1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a human waste collector, and more particularly, an apparatus and method for facilitating emptying an ostomy pouch or a person's bladder into a disposable sealable bag.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for various apparatuses related to disposing of body waste fluids have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 718,794, Issued on Jan. 20, 1903, to Reimard teaches a garment clasp comprising a pair of shanks continuous with a bend at one end and having jaws at their opposite ends, the shanks having outstruck ribs extending longitudinally thereof adjacent to their side edges and the one jaw formed with outstruck projections in longitudinal alignment between its ribs, and a slide movably engaging the jaws and having surrounding end beads, one of the latter at one side of the slide being struck inwardly to form a tongue to lock against the projections.
A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 1,634,532, Issued on Jul. 5, 1927, to Bowe teaches a clamp comprising a pair of pivotally connected jaws movable to and from clamping position, a member surrounding both jaws and movable thereon, one of the jaws having marginal portions angularly projecting from the jaw and the outer edges of the portion providing cam surfaces for engagement by the member whereby the jaws may be moved to clamping position.
A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 2,228,360, Issued on Jan. 14, 1941, to Nordeck teaches in a clothespin, a pair of independent complementary main parts; a V-shaped notch removed from but adjacent to the upper end of one main part; a V-shaped lug extending out from the other main part in complementary position to the V-shaped notch and loosely engaging therein to form a fulcrum about which the two parts may turn; the adjacent surfaces above and below the notch and lug of each of the two parts diverging at the notch and lug; an elastic cup fitting over the upper ends of the two parts above the fulcrum and tending to separate the lower ends thereof; a ring slidably mounted on the two parts and adapted to be forced downward thereon to clamp the lower ends thereof towards each other; and shoulders extending outward from points near the upper ends of each of the main parts and adapted to retain the clamping ring on the clothespin.
A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 2,250,469, Issued on Jul. 29, 1941, to Crow teaches a clasp of the character described comprising a keeper having an upper and a lower arm spaced apart and connected at one end, the arms being substantially parallel and rigid, an upper and a lower gripping arm connected at one end by a spring eye, the eye and arms being slidably mounted between the arms of the keeper to assume either an inner closed position or an outer open position, and a hump-shaped surface formed on the upper gripping arm and engageable with one of the keeper arms to close the gripper arm with relation to the lower gripper arm.
A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 2,584,249, Issued on Feb. 5, 1952, to Belcher teaches a colostomy device comprising a material receiving apron of funnel-like shape adapted to extend at the lower end into the bowl of a toilet, means adapted to detachably secure the apron at the front and top closely to the waist of a patient seated facing the toilet bowl, and means adapted to detachably secure the apron at the back to the toilet above the bowl; the last named means including a toe string.
A SIXTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 3,906,957, Issued on Sep. 23, 1975, to Weston teaches forceps, either of the tweezer type or scissors-like type, in which cross-beaking of the jaws is resisted by the presence of a flexible connector attached between the forceps arms adjacent to the jaws. This connector is bowed away from the jaws and extends sufficiently in a plane at right angles to the plane of movement of the arms at the points of attachment to the arms to resist torsion during the operation of the forceps.
A SEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 4,238,865, Issued on Dec. 16, 1980, to Ingemann et al. teaches a boot support device that includes a pair of shanks which engage each other intermediate their ends but closest to the upper end of the device. The inter-engagement of the shanks effects a rocking movement between the shanks to cause the lower ends of the shanks to move apart to facilitate insertion into the legs of boots. The divergence of the lower ends is effected by causing sections of the shanks near the upper ends to be squeezed together. A predetermined divergence may be effected by movement into a certain position of a hollow slider which is displaceable along the shanks. Divergence of the lower ends of the shanks may also be effected by manually squeezing together opposed sides of a loop-shaped connection extending between the shanks at the upper end.
AN EIGHTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 4,920,614, Issued on May 1, 1990, to Tsukamoto teaches a clamping device which has clamping units including a pair of openable arms extending in a V-shape toward one side of a pivotal center and in a X-shape toward both sides thereof, and a pair of retainers projecting from the ends of each of the arms a predetermined length toward the end, and a clamping means slidably engaged with parts of the arms of the clamping units for adjusting and holding the amount of closing of the arms in response to the thickness of an article to be clamped. The article is clamped and held by the force of restoration produced by the deformation of the clamping units occurring when the article is inserted between the pair of retainers and the pair of arms are closed.
A NINTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 5,349,724, Issued on Sep. 27, 1994, to Barcina et al. teaches a device which forms the object of the present invention that comprises a flat element more than half of which is subdivided longitudinally into two parts. The external faces of the element are provided with longitudinal grooves and the internal faces are provided with longitudinal parallel ribs. The element is embraced by a bridge piece with laterally projecting wings and a number of inner ribs which slide within the grooves. To seal the opening of the container the lips of the opening are simply fitted between the two parts. Once in this position, the bridge piece is simply pushed along by pressing the projections with the fingers such that as it advances, guided by the coupling which exists between the ribs and the grooves, it applies pressure on the opening until it is perfectly sealed, the presence of the ribs eliminating any tendency of the new seal to slip.
A TENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 5,539,963, Issued on Jul. 30, 1996, to Fujiwara et al. teaches a clip body having upper and lower clamping pieces which flare continuously and from both ends of a bending portion in a desired width and a pressing cover having upper and lower clamping pieces continuously extending from both ends of a bending portion which is formed so as to provide a desired width, in which tops of the upper and lower clamping pieces are to be engaged with upper and lower parts close to the bending portion of the clip body, and a width formed between the tops being narrower than the maximum width formed between the upper and lower clamping portions of the clip body and wherein the pressing cover being slidably provided on the outer portions of the clip body so that both the upper and lower clamping pieces of the clip body approach each other in a pressing state.
AN ELEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 5,647,670, Issued on Jul. 1, 1997, to Iscovich teaches a containment system is described which is useful for the containment of bodily fluids, such as emesis or urine. The fluid containment system is a flexible polymeric bag, preferably polyethylene, of unitary construction having a closed end and a large, normally open, reinforced, “fish mouth” open end through which fluid is introduced into the bag, the reinforced open end having a press and seal closure mechanism. In one embodiment, a strap secures the bag, which is normally in the open or receiving position, around the neck of a person. In another embodiment, straps secure the bag to a belt or belt loops for the collection of urine. In operation, the bag is affixed to the body with a strap which is attached to the (normally open) end of the bag. If the bag is to be used for the collection of emesis, the strap is hung around the neck and dimensioned to position the bag below the chin. The open end of the bag is normally open to receive fluids. The user may, however, push together both ends of the reinforced open end of the bag to further enlarge the opening until the desired shape for the open end is reached. Once set, the open end of the bag will retain its shape. After the emesis occurs the bag can be removed and closed by peeling off a releasable protective strip to expose an inner adhesive strip and grasping the open end of the bag at both ends and pulling taut. The bag is then sealed by sliding the opposed thumb and forefinger along the outside of the bag adjacent to the adhesive strip to insure a liquid-tight seal closure. Self-sealing snaps at the top of the bag insure against accidental opening of the adhesive seal.
A TWELFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 6,832,416, Issued on Dec. 21, 2004, to Dixon teaches a clamp formed from a single block of resilient material, and preferably from nylon. A living hinge is formed that couples upper and lower jaws of the clamp. First and second arms extend rearwardly from the upper and lower jaws, respectively. A pivotally mounted camming member secured to one of the arms can be manually moved by a user from a first position, wherein it holds the jaws in tight, clamping engagement with an assembly position therebetween, to a second position in which the jaws can be opened. The clamp requires only a minimal degree of user effort during use, therefore making it particularly ideally suited for applications where a large plurality of the clamps must be used and repeatedly applied, then taken off from, one or more workpieces.
A THIRTEENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Document No. 6,874,936, Issued on Apr. 5, 2005, to Gillis et al. teaches a strap-on waste container for receiving thrown up stomach contents includes an elongated moisture proof bag having an open end, a rigid ring connected to the bag open end, and an elongated neck strap connected on one end to the ring. The neck strap allows for hands free use of the container so that the user or an assistant need not hold the container. The neck strap further includes a fabricated stress riser that causes the neck strap to break through the application of a threshold force, allowing for easy removal of the neck strap and container.
It is apparent now that numerous innovations for various apparatuses related to disposing of body waste fluids have been provided in the prior art that adequate for various purposes. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, accordingly, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.